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Wednesday, 25 July 2012

Tim Porter’s Juggling

Juggling is a perfect insight
into the deep and emotional level of anxiety, panic disorder and coping with
the day to day lives that we take granted of. This semi-autobiographical film
written and directed by Tim Porter takes us on a dark psychological journey of
one’s self trying to cope in a normal life but suffering with a darkly
condition, taking the viewers to a voyage into the human mind.

A 23 year old businessman Andrew
Watson who suffers from anxiety and panic disorder lived a life of fear and
inner chaos of coping with the condition. His disabled mother and life of work
prevents him from living his own life but a night out with a friend Andrew
finds himself love struck between a woman
he met in a club and his mother. After trying to make the move he finds himself
in an inner psychological battle. Anxiety winning Andrew runs away from his
desire back home to his mother. His fellow co-worker however wishing the best
for him offers him a proposition of total independence with the girl and a new
life that awaits him. Accepting the
offer Andrew now must cope with the stress of trying to be “normal”. However
this juggling of lives soon takes Andrew’s anxiety to a much darker side of his
mind frame.

This short independent film
really does reflect the lives between living among the “norm” and coping with anxiety.
Tim Porter really does show the juggling between what the audience take granted
for their day to day lives of; chatting up girls or boys in the bars, dealing
with family stress and our inner demons. Porter really takes Juggling to
somewhat of an awareness film of people, who suffer from anxiety, panic
disorder. The close up and extreme close ups of the protagonist really makes
the audience feel somewhat uneasy being so close to Andrew. That’s what Porter
intended to do. The constant feeling of everyone around is too uncomfortably
close. The emotionally gripping and charged music really does create a feeling
of disarray and chaos. All these minor features that Porter uses create such an
atmosphere. The continuous feeling of chaos in the mind frame is most seen when
Andrew is out in the world but with his mother a feeling of peace fills the room.
But Andrews’s mother being disabled there’s always a sensation of helplessness.
Juggling was very much a gripping short film and this being a semi-autobiographical
by Tim Porter. There’s very much an emotional human level connection between
Porter, the film and the audience. Juggling makes you think how we take granted
of our level of coping when there’s people out there that suffer from anxiety
and panic disorder. It makes you wonder. And that’s what makes this such a
fantastic awareness film.